Time Management Skills for a Home Business
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Sage advice from freelance writer Shirley Gregory: “Use your planner. Whether you prefer a pocket calendar or an elaborate time-management planning system, make sure you keep track of every task and project on paper; deadlines, appointments, notes, whatever you need to keep tabs on your work. “Make the Most of Your Home Office Time”
Learning time management skills for a home business can be tricky if it is new to you. It is important to learn to set a schedule for yourself on a weekly basis and use a planner to keep track of important information. You must create an office space for yourself and learn to keep work items separate from personal items. It is also vital that you respect your work and in time others will come to do the same
Making the switch from working at an office job to working at home with flexible hours can be as challenging as it is exciting. Learning how to properly manage your time is extremely important, as this can guarantee that you get plenty of work done on a daily basis, instead of finding time slipping through your fingers.
Flexibility and independence are wonderful things if you are the type of person who is able to put everything into perspective. Even if you do not tend to be very organized with your time, this is a skill that can be learned. Be patient with yourself and remember that it will take you a certain length of time to become accustomed to your new working environment and the new hours you keep at home.
Set a Schedule and Stick to It!
When you work from an office, your purpose for being there is to work, and therefore, that is what you do. On the other hand, at home there are kids wanting your attention, laundry to do, floors to vacuum, dishes to wash, and so many other household chores. Do not tell yourself that you will grab an hour here or an hour there in between taking your son to the park and picking up the groceries. This is no way to run a home business.
What you need to do is plan for the time that you will work and make it a priority. Try not to mix household tasks with your work responsibilities because more than likely, your work will suffer. Just as you plan for time to take a vacation or taking a yoga class, you must plan for the time when you will work. Devise a schedule on a weekly basis, and if you need to change times around throughout, then do so, but make sure that you allot yourself plenty of time to work.
Keep Personal and Work Items Separate
It is tempting to do personal things during work time, such as checking e-mail, surfing the web, or making personal phone calls, but this will only interfere with the work at hand and cause you to become behind.
It is also important that you keep your business documents and supplies in a separate place from personal documents as well. Make sure you keep all of your work related documents in a single file on your computer’s hard drive, or on a memory stick or in a file folder in the bottom drawer of your desk. Do not scatter information everywhere or you are bound to lose something important.
Create Office Space
Do not use the kitchen table, the coffee table in the living room, or your child’s desk as your office. Regardless of whether you live in a small apartment or a big house, you need to find an area somewhere that you can turn into your home office. Do not move from place to place, but set up a proper office complete with your desk, computer, phone, fax machine, as well as all of your books, papers and supplies. It does not have to be fancy, but it does have to be your space and no one else’s. If you can find a small room or corner where you will be able to work undisturbed, then that is most beneficial to you.
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Where your office is located in the home can play a big role in how distracted you become. Ideally, office space should be removed from the hustle and bustle of the home and in a separate room, with a door that shuts. Kelly K. Spors |
Respect Your Work and Others Will Too
Often when people become at home entrepreneurs, other people in their life do not think of them as doing work. Thus, friends are inclined to call on them all of the time for favors and for help throughout the day.
If you want others to respect your new work situation, then you first have to respect it yourself. You have to learn what is reasonable when it comes to others and when you have to draw the line. Once you have learned to say no to impositions on your time, you will then be able to relax and really start to appreciate the unique opportunity that running a home business has brought you.
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